Beginner Flowers: Gardenia Problems

I have a small gardenia that was purchase from a home improvement store, I moved it from it's 1 gallon pot to a barrel, with good soil and a good initial watering, and after a short time (1 to 2 days) the leave yellowed and wilted a bit, I have another gardenia in a different container which was doing fine, now it is yellowing as well. I am in Northern California and the plants are in mostly sun but protected from afternoon sun.
Any info would help, I have had much success with other types of plants, these seem to be my demise.
Thank You

Gardenias can be somewhat temperamental. My first question is how much bigger was the new pot than the old one? It's not a good idea to take something from a small pot and move it right into a giant one, you're supposed to move up one pot size at a time otherwise it makes it really easy to overwater the plant (yellowing leaves are one sign of overwatering but they can mean other things too). A barrel sounds pretty big, so that's part of what the problem might be. It could be the location too, I've had better luck with Gardenias when I keep them in mostly shade, just a few hours of AM sun, and I've also had better luck if I keep them on the cooler north side of the house rather than the warmer south side (even when the amount of shade was equivalent).

Yes, the 50 gal barrel is WAY too big, the 2 gallon pot is a much better idea. If you want the look of the barrel, you could always rig up a way to set the 2 gal pot inside the barrel, but it's going to be many years before that's an appropriate size container for the plant. Hopefully that should help!

A friend of mine gave me a gardenia topiary. Any special care that I need to apply? Should I put it in the ground? I noticed today that there is a root showing from the top of the soil.
This is my first gardenia. And my first topiary for that matter!
Thank you!

I'm not sure exactly what that root looks like showing from the top of the soil, but it could mean the plant needs to be repotted. I think they're hardy in your zone, if it is then you could plant it in the ground if you want, or you can keep it in a container, just move up to one that's the next size larger than what you have now. For you being in NC you can probably also put the gardenia in the sun--there's another gardenia thread going on one of the other forums and it seems people who live in humid climates are able to grow them in full sun. For drooney though he's in a dry climate like me so there they don't like full sun.

That's what I thought too, Ecrane...it just needs repotting. I think I'll put it in the ground though. I have read that Gardenias like full sun in this area but with a little bit of shade. It's really the humidity that they like.They prefer full sun indoors; if grown outdoors for the spring, summer and early fall, they like to be in partial shade.

Drooney, from what I've been reading, buds falling off are an indication of over or under watering, but as ecrane said, the yellowing of the leaves could also be a sign of over watering. So it might be a temperature problem. They do not like to be too warm! Especially at night and if subjected to warmer nights, they won't produce new flower buds.
Plus, being as tempermental as they are, your plant might just be in kind of a shock stage from the repotting. ??
Good luck!

Hi Drooney57, I have just opened this and thought I would give you what I know about Gardenia's, not too much as here in UK we can only grow them as house plants, never had them longer than about 2 years though, I know they like a fairly peaty compost (a bit acid)I know they like Rain water NOT tap water, they have to be almost pot bound rather than huge pot little plant, water from below, (stand pot in bowl of rain water till soil feels moist)then remove and place on saucer with some pebbles so pot is not in excess water, if pos keep your water container in the same area/room as plant so that the water is at the same temp as the plant as too cold water can cause shock, also use same temp of water to mist the plant, even the underside of the leaves.
You may have shocked your plant by repotting it into too large a container or over disturbed the roots while doing so. I would do what the other person said and, IF, you really like the NEW container, place the potted Gardenia into this with nice damp peaty soil, this will help humidity.
Lastly, get a spy glass and have a good look at the back of your leaves as, red spider mites love these plants and they will cause the leaves to go yellow bcause they suck out the sap, it is worth a look, trouble with spidder mite, they are so small you cant see them with the naked eye, only when the webs appear do you notice somethings wrong, by then you have a real infestation, however, as you said your older plant also has JUST gone yellow at the leaf, mabe it is just over watering, moveing or shock of some kind, hope this helps as these are such beautifull plants and the perfume from the flowers just fill a room. good luck.
WeeNel.